Bryan Guinn, the president of Prism Technologies Group, has been working as a computer and information systems consultant with San Antonio and South Texas businesses. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, he serves the technology community as the vice president of the San Antonio International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners. He also is on the advisory board for the Technology Connexus, a non-profit organization that promotes technology within South Texas.

Note: This is an mySA.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by mySA or the San Antonio Express-News. The authors are solely responsible for the content.

Software audits can cost a business

Imagine if you will that someone needs to use one of those IRS tax prep software for their 2012 returns. That person gets the permission of their boss to use their work computer to load the software onto their office device. Then, another co-worker sees the person preparing their taxes with the software and she asks to use it for her returns. And, then another co-worker sees the activity of both and then gets the disk to load onto their work station.
Now, imagine that a software license auditor notes that three different machines are using their software based upon a report showing three computer’s IP locations in the same area. They dispatch a third-party auditor to that office, discover the unauthorized software and then demand excessive royalty payments not only for the tax prep software but the other additional copies of other software.
Software audits are a growing source of revenue for many companies. They make them to ensure compliance and to make sure they are getting the royalties for their company.
If this scenario concerns you, here are several ways to protect your organization from an audit.
First, make sure that all employees know that they can’t load unauthorized software onto your work systems. A company policy letter can address this as well as having the item noted during new employee orientation.
Second, if you authorize software, make sure that others in the organization know that the license is only for one machine. Think of a creative arts suite such as Photo Shop. An office marketing professional has the software on her machine, but she can’t share it with others who want to use it on their machine without a license.
Next, it’s important to document all software licenses and the machines that are authorized to have them as part of their operating system. I would make it a habit to have a computer professional to come into your office on a semi-annual basis and perform routine audits on your system. He or she can remove unauthorized versions of a software.
Finally, I would have all listed licenses and audits available in a binder or a readily available file. This can be given to a software auditor when he or she arrives at the office.
Business executives never know when a software audit will arise. Yet, prep work that anticipates the questions from them need to be addressed ahead of their arrival. Your computer professional can help you not only audit your software but also help you set up employee guidelines that clarify the company’s position on sharing unauthorized software.